Educational progressivism
Encyclopedia
Progressive education is a pedagogical movement that began in the late nineteenth century and has persisted in various forms to the present. More recently, it has been viewed as an alternative to the test-oriented instruction legislated by the No Child Left Behind educational funding act.
The term "progressive" was engaged to distinguish this education from the traditional curriculum
of the 19th century, which was rooted in classical preparation for the university
and strongly differentiated by socioeconomic level. By contrast, progressive education finds its roots in present experience
. Most progressive education programs have these qualities in common:
Progressive education can be traced as far back as to the works of Locke and Rousseau, with both being respectively known as paternal forerunners to the ideas that would be demonstrated by the likes of Dewey. Locke first speculated, “truth and knowledge… are out of observation and experience rather than manipulation of accepted or given ideas “ (Locke as cited in Hayes, 2007, p. 2). He further discussed the need for children to have concrete experiences in order to learn.
Rousseau furthered this assumption in Emile where he made a standpoint against students being subordinate to teachers and that memorization of facts would not lead to an education. (See the wikipedia entry for “Emile: or On Education”)
Another forerunner to progressive education was Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (1746- 1827). Although he did not consider himself an educator, his research and theories closely resemble those outlined by Rousseau in Emile. He is further considered by many to be the “father of modern educational science” (Hayes, 2007, p.2). His psychological theories pertain to education as they focus on the development of object teaching, that is, he felt that individuals best learned through experiences and through a direct manipulation and experience of objects. He further speculated that children learn through their own internal motivation rather than through compulsion. (See Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic motivation). A teachers task will be to help guide their students as individuals through their learning and allow it unfold naturally. (Butts and Cremin, 1953)
References:
Hayes, William. (2007). Progressive education movement: Is it still a facto in today's schools? Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Education.
Butts, Freeman R. & Cremin, Lawrence A. A history of education in american culture. New York: Henry Hold and Co.
What Education Is:
Education according to Dewey is the “participation of the individual in the social consciousness of the race” (Dewey, 1897, para. 1). As such, education should take into account that the student is a social being. The process begins at birth with the child unconsciously gaining knowledge with the child eventually and gradually developing their knowledge to share and partake in society.
The educational process has two sides, the psychological and the sociological, with the psychological forming the basis. (Dewey, 1897). A child’s own instincts will help develop the material that is presented to them. These instincts also form the basis of their knowledge with everything building upon it. This forms the basis of Dewey’s assumption that one cannot learn without motivation.
Knowledge is a social condition and it is important to help students construct their own learning, as stated:
“Hence it is impossible to prepare the child for any precise set of conditions. To prepare him for the future life means to give him command of himself; it means so to train him that he will have the full and ready use of all his capacities; that his eye and ear and hand may be tools ready to command, that his judgment may be capable of grasping the conditions under which it has to work, and the executive forces be trained to act economically and efficiently” (Dewer, 1897, Para. 7)
Instruction must focus on the child as a whole for you can never be sure as to where society may end or where that student will be needed or will take themselves.
What the School Is
“Education fails because it neglects this fundamental principle of the school as a form of community life. It conceives the school as a place where certain information is to be given, where certain lessons are to be learned, or where certain habits are to be formed” (Dewey, 1897, para. 17) Dewey felt that as education is a social construct then the school is a part of society, it is therefore a part of society and should reflect our community.
Education is the process of living and is not meant to be the preparation of future living (Dewey, 1897) so school must represent the present life. As such, parts of the student’s home life (such as moral and ethical education) should take part in the schooling process.
The teacher is a part of this not as an authoritative figure but as a member of the community who is there to assist the student.
The Subject- Matter of Education
According to Dewey, the curriculum in the schools should reflect that of society. The center of the school curriculum should reflect the development of humans in society. The study of the core subjects (language, science, history) should be coupled with the study of cooking, sewing and manual training. Furthermore, he feels that “progress is not in the succession of studies but in the development of new attitudes towards, and new interests in, experience” (Dewey, 1897, para. 38)
The Nature of Method
Method is focused on the child’s powers and interests. If the child is thrown into a passive role as a student, absorbing information, the result is a waste of the child’s education. (Dewey, 1897). Information presented to the student will be transformed into new forms, images and symbols by the student so that they fit with their development and interests. The development of this is natural and to repress this process and attempting to “substitute the adult for the child” (Dewey, 1897, para. 52) would weaken the intellectual curiosity of the child.
The School and Social Progress
Education is the most fundamental method of social reconstruction for progress and reform. Dewey believes that “education is a regulation of the process of coming to share in the social consciousness; and that the adjustment of individual activity on the basis of this social consciousness is the only sure method of social reconstruction” (Dewey, 1897, para. 60). As such, Dewey gives way to Social Reconstruction and schools as means to reconstruct society (See Social Reconstruction in Education). Finally, as schools become a means for social reconstruction, our educations must be given the proper equipment to help perform this task and guide their students.
Reference:
Dewey, John. (1897). My pedagogical creed. School Journal. 54. pp. 77-80. Retrieved on November 4th 2011 from http://dewey.pragmatism.org/creed.htm
Reference:
Hayes, William. (2007). Progressive education movement: Is it still a facto in today's schools? Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Education.
; its best-known spokesperson was the philosopher John Dewey
.
In 1875 Francis Parker became superintendent of schools in Quincy, Massachusetts
after spending two years in Germany
studying emerging educational trends on the continent. Parker was opposed to rote learning, believing that there was no value in knowledge without understanding. He argued instead schools should encourage and respect the child’s creativity. Parker’s Quincy System
called for child-centered and experience-based learning. He replaced the traditional curriculum with integrated learning units based on core themes related to the knowledge of different disciplines. He replaced traditional readers, spellers and grammar
books with children’s own writing, literature
, and teacher prepared materials. In 1883 Parker left Massachusetts to become Principal of the Cook County Normal School in Chicago
, a school that also served to train teachers in Parker’s methods. In 1894 Parker’s Talks on Pedagogics, which drew heavily on the thinking of Fröbel, Pestalozzi
and Herbart
, became one of the first American writings on education to gain international fame.
That same year, philosopher John Dewey moved from the University of Michigan
to the newly established University of Chicago
where he became chair of the department of philosophy
, psychology
and education. He and his wife enrolled their children in Parker’s school before founding their own school two years later.
Whereas Parker started with practice and then moved to theory, Dewey began with hypotheses and then devised methods and curricula to test them. By the time Dewey moved to Chicago at the age of thirty-five, he had already published two books on psychology and applied psychology. He had become dissatisfied with philosophy as pure speculation and was seeking ways to make philosophy directly relevant to practical issues. Moving away from an early interest in Hegel, Dewey proceeded to reject all forms of dualism
and dichotomy in favor of a philosophy of experience as a series of unified wholes in which everything can be ultimately related.
In 1896, John Dewey opened what he called the laboratory school to test his theories and their sociological implications. With Dewey as the director and his wife as principal, the University of Chicago Laboratory school, was dedicated “to discover in administration, selection of subject-matter, methods of learning, teaching, and discipline
, how a school could become a cooperative community while developing in individuals their own capacities and satisfy their own needs.” (Cremin, 136) For Dewey the two key goals of developing a cooperative community
and developing individual
s’ own capacities were not at odds; they were necessary to each other. This unity of purpose lies at the heart of the progressive education philosophy. In 1912, Dewey sent out students of his philosophy to found The Park School of Buffalo
and The Park School of Baltimore to put it into practice. These schools operate to this day within a similar progressive approach.
At Columbia, Dewey worked with other educators such as Charles Eliot and Abraham Flexner to help bring progressivism into the mainstream of American education. In 1917 Columbia established the Lincoln School of Teachers College “as a laboratory for the working out of an elementary and secondary curriculum which shall eliminate obsolete material and endeavor to work up in usable form material adapted to the needs of modern living.” (Cremin, 282) Based on Flexner’s demand that the modern curriculum “include nothing for which an affirmative case can not be made out” (Cremin, 281) the new school organized its activities around four fundamental fields: science
, industry
, aesthetics
and civics
. The Lincoln School built its curriculum around “units of work” that reorganized traditional subject matter into forms embracing the development of child
ren and the changing needs of adult life. The first and second grades carried on a study of community life in which they actually built a city. A third grade project growing out of the day to day life of the nearby Hudson river
became one of the most celebrated units of the school, a unit on boats, which under the guidance of its legendary teacher Miss Curtis, became an entrée into history
, geography
, reading
, writing
, arithmetic
, science, art
and literature. Each of the units was broadly enough conceived so that different children could concentrate on different aspects depending on their own interests and needs. Each of the units called for widely diverse student activities, and each sought to deal in depth with some critical aspect of contemporary civilization. Finally each unit engaged children working together cooperatively and also provided opportunities for individual research and exploration.
From 1919 to 1955 the Progressive Education Association founded by Stanwood Cobb and others worked to promote a more student-centered approach to education. During the Great Depression
the organization conducted an Eight Year study evaluating the effects of progressive programs. More than 1500 students over four years were compared to an equal number of carefully matched students at conventional schools. When they reached college, the experimental students were found to equal or surpass traditionally educated students on all outcomes: grades, extracurricular participation, dropout rates, intellectual curiosity, and resourcefulness. Moreover, the study found that the more the school departed from the traditional college preparatory program, the better was the record of the graduates. (Kohn, Schools, 232)
By mid-century many public school programs had also adopted elements of progressive curriculum. At mid-century Dewey believed that progressive education had “not really penetrated and permeated the foundations of the educational institution.”(Kohn, Schools, 6,7) As the influence of progressive pedagogy grew broader and more diffuse, practitioners began to vary their application of progressive principles. As varying interpretations and practices made evaluation of progressive reforms more difficult to assess, critics began to propose alternative approaches.
The seeds of the debate over progressive education can be seen in the differences of Parker and Dewey. These have to do with how much and by whom curriculum should be worked out from grade to grade, how much the child’s emerging interests should determine classroom activities, the importance of child-centered vs. societal–centered learning, the relationship of community building to individual growth, and especially the relationship between emotion, thought and experience.
In 1955 the publication of Rudolf Flesch's Why Johnny Can’t Read leveled criticism of reading programs at the progressive emphasis on reading in context. The conservative McCarthy era raised questions about the liberal ideas at the roots of the progressive reforms. The launching of Sputnik in 1957 at the height of the cold war
gave rise to a number of intellectually competitive approaches to disciplinary knowledge, such as BSCS biology PSSC physics, led by university professors such as Jerome Bruner
and Jerrold Zacharias.
Interestingly, some of the cold war reforms incorporated elements of progressivism. For example, the work of Zacharias and Bruner was based in the developmental psychology of Jean Piaget
and incorporated many of Dewey’s ideas of experiential education. Bruner’s analysis of developmental psychology became the core of a pedagogical movement known as constructivism
, which argues that the child is an active participant in making meaning and must be engaged in the progress of education for learning to be effective. This psychological approach has deep connections to the work of both Parker and Dewey and led to a resurgence of their ideas in second half of the century.
In 1963 President Johnson inaugurated the Great Society
and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act suffused public school programs with funds for sweeping education reforms. At the same time the influx of federal funding also gave rise to demands for accountability and the behavioral objectives approach of Robert F. Mager and others foreshadowed the No Child Left Behind Act
passed in 2002. Against these critics eloquent spokespersons stepped forward in defense of the progressive tradition. The Open Classroom
movement, led by Herb Kohl
and George Dennison, recalled many of Parker's child centered reforms. More recently Alfie Kohn
has been an outspoken critic of the No Child Left Behind Act and a passionate defender of the progressive tradition.
Taxpayer revolts, leading to cuts in funding for public education in many states, have led to the founding of an unprecedented number of independent schools, many of which have progressive philosophies. The charter school movement has also spawned an increase in progressive programs. Most recently, public outcry against No Child Left Behind testing and teaching to the test
has brought progressive education again into the limelight. Despite the variations that still exist among the progressive programs throughout the country, most progressive schools today are vitalized by these common practices:
rose, even amidst concerns by opponents of the progressive movement in the United States
, because some people felt that social welfare of young men should be maintained through education alone. After decades of growing interest in and development of experiential education
and scouting (not Scouting) in the United States
, and the emergence of the Scout Movement
in 1907, in 1910 Boy Scouts of America was founded in the merger of three older Scouting
organizations: Boy Scouts of the United States, the National Scouts of America and the Peace Scouts of California. Its founder, Chicago publisher W. D. Boyce
was visiting London, in 1909, when he met the Unknown Scout
and learned of the Scouting movement. Soon after his return to the U.S., Boyce incorporated the Boy Scouts of America on February 8, 1910. Edgar M. Robinson
and Lee F. Hanmer
became interested in the nascent BSA program and convinced Boyce to turn the program over to the YMCA
for development. Robinson enlisted Ernest Thompson Seton
, Daniel Carter Beard
and other prominent leaders in the early youth movements. After initial development, Robinson turned the movement over to James E. West
who became the first Chief Scout Executive
and the Scouting movement began to expand in the U.S. As BSA grew, it absorbed other Scouting organizations.
and Europe
ans felt they had fallen behind the Soviet Union
technologically after the success of Sputnik in October, 1957. A rethinking of education theory followed that, together with the prevailing conservative political climate, helped to cause progressivism to fall from favor.
However, today many schools use progressive education methods, such as hands on activities and science experiments in Junior High Schools. Numerous schools also self-identify as progressive in educational philosophy.
promote the adoption of progressive education practices, a more holistic approach which focuses on individual students' needs and self-expression. In the eyes of reformers, traditional teacher-centered methods focused on rote learning and memorization must be abandoned in favor of student-centered and task-based approaches to learning. However, many parents and conservative citizens are concerned with the maintenance of objective educational standards based on testing, which favors a more traditional approach. For further information see, Traditional education
.
Colleges
The term "progressive" was engaged to distinguish this education from the traditional curriculum
Curriculum
See also Syllabus.In formal education, a curriculum is the set of courses, and their content, offered at a school or university. As an idea, curriculum stems from the Latin word for race course, referring to the course of deeds and experiences through which children grow to become mature adults...
of the 19th century, which was rooted in classical preparation for the university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
and strongly differentiated by socioeconomic level. By contrast, progressive education finds its roots in present experience
Experience
Experience as a general concept comprises knowledge of or skill in or observation of some thing or some event gained through involvement in or exposure to that thing or event....
. Most progressive education programs have these qualities in common:
- Emphasis on learning by doing – hands-on projects, expeditionary learning, experiential learningExperiential learningExperiential learning is the process of making meaning from direct experience. Simply put, Experiential Learning is learning from experience. The experience can be staged or left open. Aristotle once said, "For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them." David A...
- Integrated curriculum focused on thematic units
- Strong emphasis on problem solvingProblem solvingProblem solving is a mental process and is part of the larger problem process that includes problem finding and problem shaping. Consideredthe most complex of all intellectual functions, problem solving has been defined as higher-order cognitive process that requires the modulation and control of...
and critical thinkingCritical thinkingCritical thinking is the process or method of thinking that questions assumptions. It is a way of deciding whether a claim is true, false, or sometimes true and sometimes false, or partly true and partly false. The origins of critical thinking can be traced in Western thought to the Socratic... - Group work and development of social skills
- Understanding and action as the goals of learning as opposed to rote knowledge
- Collaborative and cooperative learningCooperative learningCooperative learning is an approach to organizing classroom activities into academic and social learning experiences. Students must work in groups to complete tasks collectively...
projects - Education for social responsibility and democracy
- Integration of community service and service learning projects into the daily curriculum
- Selection of subject content by looking forward to ask what skills will be needed in future society
- De-emphasis on textbooks in favor of varied learning resources
- Emphasis on life-long learning and social skills
- Assessment by evaluation of child’s projects and productions
Educational Theory
ForerunnersProgressive education can be traced as far back as to the works of Locke and Rousseau, with both being respectively known as paternal forerunners to the ideas that would be demonstrated by the likes of Dewey. Locke first speculated, “truth and knowledge… are out of observation and experience rather than manipulation of accepted or given ideas “ (Locke as cited in Hayes, 2007, p. 2). He further discussed the need for children to have concrete experiences in order to learn.
Rousseau furthered this assumption in Emile where he made a standpoint against students being subordinate to teachers and that memorization of facts would not lead to an education. (See the wikipedia entry for “Emile: or On Education”)
Another forerunner to progressive education was Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (1746- 1827). Although he did not consider himself an educator, his research and theories closely resemble those outlined by Rousseau in Emile. He is further considered by many to be the “father of modern educational science” (Hayes, 2007, p.2). His psychological theories pertain to education as they focus on the development of object teaching, that is, he felt that individuals best learned through experiences and through a direct manipulation and experience of objects. He further speculated that children learn through their own internal motivation rather than through compulsion. (See Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic motivation). A teachers task will be to help guide their students as individuals through their learning and allow it unfold naturally. (Butts and Cremin, 1953)
References:
Hayes, William. (2007). Progressive education movement: Is it still a facto in today's schools? Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Education.
Butts, Freeman R. & Cremin, Lawrence A. A history of education in american culture. New York: Henry Hold and Co.
John Dewey
Beginning in 1897 Dewey published a summary of his theory on progressive education in School Journal. His theoretical standpoints are divided into 5 sections outlined below.What Education Is:
Education according to Dewey is the “participation of the individual in the social consciousness of the race” (Dewey, 1897, para. 1). As such, education should take into account that the student is a social being. The process begins at birth with the child unconsciously gaining knowledge with the child eventually and gradually developing their knowledge to share and partake in society.
The educational process has two sides, the psychological and the sociological, with the psychological forming the basis. (Dewey, 1897). A child’s own instincts will help develop the material that is presented to them. These instincts also form the basis of their knowledge with everything building upon it. This forms the basis of Dewey’s assumption that one cannot learn without motivation.
Knowledge is a social condition and it is important to help students construct their own learning, as stated:
“Hence it is impossible to prepare the child for any precise set of conditions. To prepare him for the future life means to give him command of himself; it means so to train him that he will have the full and ready use of all his capacities; that his eye and ear and hand may be tools ready to command, that his judgment may be capable of grasping the conditions under which it has to work, and the executive forces be trained to act economically and efficiently” (Dewer, 1897, Para. 7)
Instruction must focus on the child as a whole for you can never be sure as to where society may end or where that student will be needed or will take themselves.
What the School Is
“Education fails because it neglects this fundamental principle of the school as a form of community life. It conceives the school as a place where certain information is to be given, where certain lessons are to be learned, or where certain habits are to be formed” (Dewey, 1897, para. 17) Dewey felt that as education is a social construct then the school is a part of society, it is therefore a part of society and should reflect our community.
Education is the process of living and is not meant to be the preparation of future living (Dewey, 1897) so school must represent the present life. As such, parts of the student’s home life (such as moral and ethical education) should take part in the schooling process.
The teacher is a part of this not as an authoritative figure but as a member of the community who is there to assist the student.
The Subject- Matter of Education
According to Dewey, the curriculum in the schools should reflect that of society. The center of the school curriculum should reflect the development of humans in society. The study of the core subjects (language, science, history) should be coupled with the study of cooking, sewing and manual training. Furthermore, he feels that “progress is not in the succession of studies but in the development of new attitudes towards, and new interests in, experience” (Dewey, 1897, para. 38)
The Nature of Method
Method is focused on the child’s powers and interests. If the child is thrown into a passive role as a student, absorbing information, the result is a waste of the child’s education. (Dewey, 1897). Information presented to the student will be transformed into new forms, images and symbols by the student so that they fit with their development and interests. The development of this is natural and to repress this process and attempting to “substitute the adult for the child” (Dewey, 1897, para. 52) would weaken the intellectual curiosity of the child.
The School and Social Progress
Education is the most fundamental method of social reconstruction for progress and reform. Dewey believes that “education is a regulation of the process of coming to share in the social consciousness; and that the adjustment of individual activity on the basis of this social consciousness is the only sure method of social reconstruction” (Dewey, 1897, para. 60). As such, Dewey gives way to Social Reconstruction and schools as means to reconstruct society (See Social Reconstruction in Education). Finally, as schools become a means for social reconstruction, our educations must be given the proper equipment to help perform this task and guide their students.
Reference:
Dewey, John. (1897). My pedagogical creed. School Journal. 54. pp. 77-80. Retrieved on November 4th 2011 from http://dewey.pragmatism.org/creed.htm
William Head Kilpatrick
Kilpatrick (1871-1965) was a pupil of Dewey and one of the most effective practitioner of the concept as well as the more adept at proliferating the progressive education movement and spreading word of the works of Dewey. He is especially well known for his “project method of teaching” (Hayes, 2007, p. 24). This developed the progressive education notion that students were to be engaged and taught so that their knowledge may be directed to society for a socially useful need. Like Dewey he also felt that students should be actively engaged in their learning rather than actively disengaged with the simple reading and regurgitation of material.Reference:
Hayes, William. (2007). Progressive education movement: Is it still a facto in today's schools? Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Education.
Development in the United States
The most famous early practitioner of progressive education was Francis ParkerFrancis Wayland Parker
Francis Wayland Parker was a pioneer of the progressive school movement in the United States. He believed that education should include the complete development of an individual — mental, physical, and moral...
; its best-known spokesperson was the philosopher John Dewey
John Dewey
John Dewey was an American philosopher, psychologist and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform. Dewey was an important early developer of the philosophy of pragmatism and one of the founders of functional psychology...
.
In 1875 Francis Parker became superintendent of schools in Quincy, Massachusetts
Quincy, Massachusetts
Quincy is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Its nicknames are "City of Presidents", "City of Legends", and "Birthplace of the American Dream". As a major part of Metropolitan Boston, Quincy is a member of Boston's Inner Core Committee for the Metropolitan Area Planning Council...
after spending two years in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
studying emerging educational trends on the continent. Parker was opposed to rote learning, believing that there was no value in knowledge without understanding. He argued instead schools should encourage and respect the child’s creativity. Parker’s Quincy System
Quincy Method
The Quincy Method, also known as the Quincy Plan, or the Quincy system of learning, was a child-centred, progressive approach to education developed by Francis W...
called for child-centered and experience-based learning. He replaced the traditional curriculum with integrated learning units based on core themes related to the knowledge of different disciplines. He replaced traditional readers, spellers and grammar
Grammar
In linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules that govern the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology, syntax, and phonology, often complemented by phonetics, semantics,...
books with children’s own writing, literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
, and teacher prepared materials. In 1883 Parker left Massachusetts to become Principal of the Cook County Normal School in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, a school that also served to train teachers in Parker’s methods. In 1894 Parker’s Talks on Pedagogics, which drew heavily on the thinking of Fröbel, Pestalozzi
Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi
Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi was a Swiss pedagogue and educational reformer who exemplified Romanticism in his approach....
and Herbart
Johann Friedrich Herbart
Johann Friedrich Herbart was a German philosopher, psychologist, and founder of pedagogy as an academic discipline....
, became one of the first American writings on education to gain international fame.
That same year, philosopher John Dewey moved from the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
to the newly established University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
where he became chair of the department of philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
, psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
and education. He and his wife enrolled their children in Parker’s school before founding their own school two years later.
Whereas Parker started with practice and then moved to theory, Dewey began with hypotheses and then devised methods and curricula to test them. By the time Dewey moved to Chicago at the age of thirty-five, he had already published two books on psychology and applied psychology. He had become dissatisfied with philosophy as pure speculation and was seeking ways to make philosophy directly relevant to practical issues. Moving away from an early interest in Hegel, Dewey proceeded to reject all forms of dualism
Dualism
Dualism denotes a state of two parts. The term 'dualism' was originally coined to denote co-eternal binary opposition, a meaning that is preserved in metaphysical and philosophical duality discourse but has been diluted in general or common usages. Dualism can refer to moral dualism, Dualism (from...
and dichotomy in favor of a philosophy of experience as a series of unified wholes in which everything can be ultimately related.
In 1896, John Dewey opened what he called the laboratory school to test his theories and their sociological implications. With Dewey as the director and his wife as principal, the University of Chicago Laboratory school, was dedicated “to discover in administration, selection of subject-matter, methods of learning, teaching, and discipline
Discipline
In its original sense, discipline is referred to systematic instruction given to disciples to train them as students in a craft or trade, or to follow a particular code of conduct or "order". Often, the phrase "to discipline" carries a negative connotation. This is because enforcement of order –...
, how a school could become a cooperative community while developing in individuals their own capacities and satisfy their own needs.” (Cremin, 136) For Dewey the two key goals of developing a cooperative community
Community
The term community has two distinct meanings:*a group of interacting people, possibly living in close proximity, and often refers to a group that shares some common values, and is attributed with social cohesion within a shared geographical location, generally in social units larger than a household...
and developing individual
Individual
An individual is a person or any specific object or thing in a collection. Individuality is the state or quality of being an individual; a person separate from other persons and possessing his or her own needs, goals, and desires. Being self expressive...
s’ own capacities were not at odds; they were necessary to each other. This unity of purpose lies at the heart of the progressive education philosophy. In 1912, Dewey sent out students of his philosophy to found The Park School of Buffalo
The Park School of Buffalo
The Park School of Buffalo is a private, co-educational, college preparatory school located in Amherst, New York . Founded in 1912, the institution features lower, middle, and upper schools, serving roughly 260 students from Pre-Kindergarten through grade 12...
and The Park School of Baltimore to put it into practice. These schools operate to this day within a similar progressive approach.
At Columbia, Dewey worked with other educators such as Charles Eliot and Abraham Flexner to help bring progressivism into the mainstream of American education. In 1917 Columbia established the Lincoln School of Teachers College “as a laboratory for the working out of an elementary and secondary curriculum which shall eliminate obsolete material and endeavor to work up in usable form material adapted to the needs of modern living.” (Cremin, 282) Based on Flexner’s demand that the modern curriculum “include nothing for which an affirmative case can not be made out” (Cremin, 281) the new school organized its activities around four fundamental fields: science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
, industry
Industry
Industry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...
, aesthetics
Aesthetics
Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, and taste, and with the creation and appreciation of beauty. It is more scientifically defined as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment and taste...
and civics
Civics
Civics is the study of rights and duties of citizenship. In other words, it is the study of government with attention to the role of citizens ― as opposed to external factors ― in the operation and oversight of government....
. The Lincoln School built its curriculum around “units of work” that reorganized traditional subject matter into forms embracing the development of child
Child
Biologically, a child is generally a human between the stages of birth and puberty. Some vernacular definitions of a child include the fetus, as being an unborn child. The legal definition of "child" generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger than the age of majority...
ren and the changing needs of adult life. The first and second grades carried on a study of community life in which they actually built a city. A third grade project growing out of the day to day life of the nearby Hudson river
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
became one of the most celebrated units of the school, a unit on boats, which under the guidance of its legendary teacher Miss Curtis, became an entrée into history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
, geography
Geography
Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
, reading
Reading (process)
Reading is a complex cognitive process of decoding symbols for the intention of constructing or deriving meaning . It is a means of language acquisition, of communication, and of sharing information and ideas...
, writing
Writing
Writing is the representation of language in a textual medium through the use of a set of signs or symbols . It is distinguished from illustration, such as cave drawing and painting, and non-symbolic preservation of language via non-textual media, such as magnetic tape audio.Writing most likely...
, arithmetic
Arithmetic
Arithmetic or arithmetics is the oldest and most elementary branch of mathematics, used by almost everyone, for tasks ranging from simple day-to-day counting to advanced science and business calculations. It involves the study of quantity, especially as the result of combining numbers...
, science, art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
and literature. Each of the units was broadly enough conceived so that different children could concentrate on different aspects depending on their own interests and needs. Each of the units called for widely diverse student activities, and each sought to deal in depth with some critical aspect of contemporary civilization. Finally each unit engaged children working together cooperatively and also provided opportunities for individual research and exploration.
From 1919 to 1955 the Progressive Education Association founded by Stanwood Cobb and others worked to promote a more student-centered approach to education. During the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
the organization conducted an Eight Year study evaluating the effects of progressive programs. More than 1500 students over four years were compared to an equal number of carefully matched students at conventional schools. When they reached college, the experimental students were found to equal or surpass traditionally educated students on all outcomes: grades, extracurricular participation, dropout rates, intellectual curiosity, and resourcefulness. Moreover, the study found that the more the school departed from the traditional college preparatory program, the better was the record of the graduates. (Kohn, Schools, 232)
By mid-century many public school programs had also adopted elements of progressive curriculum. At mid-century Dewey believed that progressive education had “not really penetrated and permeated the foundations of the educational institution.”(Kohn, Schools, 6,7) As the influence of progressive pedagogy grew broader and more diffuse, practitioners began to vary their application of progressive principles. As varying interpretations and practices made evaluation of progressive reforms more difficult to assess, critics began to propose alternative approaches.
The seeds of the debate over progressive education can be seen in the differences of Parker and Dewey. These have to do with how much and by whom curriculum should be worked out from grade to grade, how much the child’s emerging interests should determine classroom activities, the importance of child-centered vs. societal–centered learning, the relationship of community building to individual growth, and especially the relationship between emotion, thought and experience.
In 1955 the publication of Rudolf Flesch's Why Johnny Can’t Read leveled criticism of reading programs at the progressive emphasis on reading in context. The conservative McCarthy era raised questions about the liberal ideas at the roots of the progressive reforms. The launching of Sputnik in 1957 at the height of the cold war
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
gave rise to a number of intellectually competitive approaches to disciplinary knowledge, such as BSCS biology PSSC physics, led by university professors such as Jerome Bruner
Jerome Bruner
Jerome Seymour Bruner is an American psychologist who has contributed to cognitive psychology and cognitive learning theory in educational psychology, as well as to history and to the general philosophy of education. Bruner is currently a senior research fellow at the New York University School...
and Jerrold Zacharias.
Interestingly, some of the cold war reforms incorporated elements of progressivism. For example, the work of Zacharias and Bruner was based in the developmental psychology of Jean Piaget
Jean Piaget
Jean Piaget was a French-speaking Swiss developmental psychologist and philosopher known for his epistemological studies with children. His theory of cognitive development and epistemological view are together called "genetic epistemology"....
and incorporated many of Dewey’s ideas of experiential education. Bruner’s analysis of developmental psychology became the core of a pedagogical movement known as constructivism
Constructivism (learning theory)
Constructivism is a theory of knowledge that argues that humans generate knowledge and meaning from an interaction between their experiences and their ideas. During infancy, it was an interaction between human experiences and their reflexes or behavior-patterns. Piaget called these systems of...
, which argues that the child is an active participant in making meaning and must be engaged in the progress of education for learning to be effective. This psychological approach has deep connections to the work of both Parker and Dewey and led to a resurgence of their ideas in second half of the century.
In 1963 President Johnson inaugurated the Great Society
Great Society
The Great Society was a set of domestic programs in the United States promoted by President Lyndon B. Johnson and fellow Democrats in Congress in the 1960s. Two main goals of the Great Society social reforms were the elimination of poverty and racial injustice...
and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act suffused public school programs with funds for sweeping education reforms. At the same time the influx of federal funding also gave rise to demands for accountability and the behavioral objectives approach of Robert F. Mager and others foreshadowed the No Child Left Behind Act
No Child Left Behind Act
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 is a United States Act of Congress concerning the education of children in public schools.NCLB was originally proposed by the administration of George W. Bush immediately after he took office...
passed in 2002. Against these critics eloquent spokespersons stepped forward in defense of the progressive tradition. The Open Classroom
Open classroom
An open classroom is a student-centered classroom design format popular in the United States in the 1970s. In its most extreme form, entire schools were built without interior walls, which made teaching loud and disruptive in worst case scenarios - for most schools this has not been as big a...
movement, led by Herb Kohl
Herbert Kohl (education)
Herbert R. Kohl is an educator best known for his advocacy of progressive alternative education and as the author of more than thirty books on education....
and George Dennison, recalled many of Parker's child centered reforms. More recently Alfie Kohn
Alfie Kohn
Alfie Kohn is an American author and lecturer who has explored a number of topics in education, parenting, and human behavior...
has been an outspoken critic of the No Child Left Behind Act and a passionate defender of the progressive tradition.
Taxpayer revolts, leading to cuts in funding for public education in many states, have led to the founding of an unprecedented number of independent schools, many of which have progressive philosophies. The charter school movement has also spawned an increase in progressive programs. Most recently, public outcry against No Child Left Behind testing and teaching to the test
Teaching to the test
Teaching to the test is an educational practice where the curriculum is centered primarily around an end assessment or standardized test. The practice is designed to give students a set range of knowledge or skills that will allow them to enhance their performance on tests...
has brought progressive education again into the limelight. Despite the variations that still exist among the progressive programs throughout the country, most progressive schools today are vitalized by these common practices:
- The curriculum is more flexible and is influenced by student interest
- Teachers are facilitators of learning who encourage students to use a wide variety of activities to learn
- Progressive teachers use a wider variety of materials allowing for individual and group research.
- Progressive teachers encourage students to learn by discovery
- Progressive education programs often include the use of community resources and encourage service-learning projects.
Education outside of schools
Organizations like the Boy Scouts of AmericaBoy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 4.5 million youth members in its age-related divisions...
rose, even amidst concerns by opponents of the progressive movement in the United States
Progressivism in the United States
Progressivism in the United States is a broadly based reform movement that reached its height early in the 20th century and is generally considered to be middle class and reformist in nature. It arose as a response to the vast changes brought by modernization, such as the growth of large...
, because some people felt that social welfare of young men should be maintained through education alone. After decades of growing interest in and development of experiential education
Experiential education
Experiential education is a philosophy of education that describes the process that occurs between a teacher and student that infuses direct experience with the learning environment and content. The term is mistakenly used interchangeably with experiential learning...
and scouting (not Scouting) in the United States
Scouting in the United States
Scouting in the United States can refer to Scouting associations that are recognized by one of the international Scouting organizations, as well as independent groups that are considered to be "Scout-like" or otherwise Scouting related.-Scouting for boys:...
, and the emergence of the Scout Movement
Scouting
Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement with the stated aim of supporting young people in their physical, mental and spiritual development, that they may play constructive roles in society....
in 1907, in 1910 Boy Scouts of America was founded in the merger of three older Scouting
Scouting
Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement with the stated aim of supporting young people in their physical, mental and spiritual development, that they may play constructive roles in society....
organizations: Boy Scouts of the United States, the National Scouts of America and the Peace Scouts of California. Its founder, Chicago publisher W. D. Boyce
William D. Boyce
William Dickson "W. D." Boyce was an American newspaper man, entrepreneur, magazine publisher, and explorer. He was the founder of the Boy Scouts of America and the short-lived Lone Scouts of America . Born in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, he acquired a love for the outdoors early in his life...
was visiting London, in 1909, when he met the Unknown Scout
Unknown Scout
The Unknown Scout was an anonymous member of The Boy Scout Association in the United Kingdom whose good turn inspired William D. Boyce to form the Boy Scouts of America .-Legend:...
and learned of the Scouting movement. Soon after his return to the U.S., Boyce incorporated the Boy Scouts of America on February 8, 1910. Edgar M. Robinson
Edgar M. Robinson
Edgar M. Robinson was Boys' Work Secretary of the International Committee of the YMCA and a long-time director and executive with the YMCA in New York. He is notable for his significant efforts in helping to establish the Boy Scouts of America ....
and Lee F. Hanmer
Lee F. Hanmer
Lee Franklin Hanmer was the director of the recreation department of the Russell Sage Foundation from 1912 to 1937— in that capacity, he helped to found the Boy Scouts of America. He later helped to form the Campfire Girls of America — now Camp Fire USA —in 1912.Hanmer attended Cornell University...
became interested in the nascent BSA program and convinced Boyce to turn the program over to the YMCA
YMCA
The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...
for development. Robinson enlisted Ernest Thompson Seton
Ernest Thompson Seton
Ernest Thompson Seton was a Scots-Canadian who became a noted author, wildlife artist, founder of the Woodcraft Indians, and one of the founding pioneers of the Boy Scouts of America . Seton also influenced Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting...
, Daniel Carter Beard
Daniel Carter Beard
Daniel Carter "Uncle Dan" Beard was an American illustrator, author, youth leader, and social reformer who founded the Sons of Daniel Boone in 1905, which Beard later merged with the Boy Scouts of America .-Early life:...
and other prominent leaders in the early youth movements. After initial development, Robinson turned the movement over to James E. West
James E. West (Scouting)
Dr. James E. West was a lawyer and an advocate of children's rights, who became the first professional Chief Scout Executive of the Boy Scouts of America , serving from 1911–1943. Upon his retirement from the BSA, West was given the title of Chief Scout.-Personal life:His father died around the...
who became the first Chief Scout Executive
Chief Scout Executive
The Chief Scout Executive is the top professional of the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America. In most similar non-profit organizations, this is equivalent to the position of executive director....
and the Scouting movement began to expand in the U.S. As BSA grew, it absorbed other Scouting organizations.
Recent developments
Changes in educational establishments came about as AmericansUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
ans felt they had fallen behind the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
technologically after the success of Sputnik in October, 1957. A rethinking of education theory followed that, together with the prevailing conservative political climate, helped to cause progressivism to fall from favor.
However, today many schools use progressive education methods, such as hands on activities and science experiments in Junior High Schools. Numerous schools also self-identify as progressive in educational philosophy.
Traditional Education vs Progressive Education
Traditional education or back-to-basics refers to long-established customs found in schools that society has traditionally deemed appropriate. Some forms of education reformEducation reform
Education reform is the process of improving public education. Small improvements in education theoretically have large social returns, in health, wealth and well-being. Historically, reforms have taken different forms because the motivations of reformers have differed.A continuing motivation has...
promote the adoption of progressive education practices, a more holistic approach which focuses on individual students' needs and self-expression. In the eyes of reformers, traditional teacher-centered methods focused on rote learning and memorization must be abandoned in favor of student-centered and task-based approaches to learning. However, many parents and conservative citizens are concerned with the maintenance of objective educational standards based on testing, which favors a more traditional approach. For further information see, Traditional education
Traditional education
Traditional education or back-to-basics refers to long-established customs found in schools that society has traditionally deemed appropriate. Some forms of education reform promote the adoption of progressive education practices, a more holistic approach which focuses on individual students'...
.
Schools and colleges employing the Dewey model
- Ann Arbor Open SchoolAnn Arbor Open SchoolAnn Arbor Open School is a progressive school of choice in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The school serves students in kindergarten through eighth grade and admissions are based on a lottery...
- A progressive K-8 school in the Ann Arbor Public School District in Michigan - Bank Street College of EducationBank Street College of EducationBank Street College of Education is located in Manhattan, New York City.-History:Bank Street was founded in 1916 by Lucy Sprague Mitchell as the "Bureau of Educational Experiments"....
- A Progressive Children's School and College of Education in New York, New York, founded in 1916. - Calhoun SchoolCalhoun schoolThe Calhoun School is an independent, coeducational college preparatory school located in New York City's Upper West Side. Classes are offered for preschool through 12th grade...
- A progressive preK-12 school in Manhattan, New York. - Park Day School - A diverse, independent bridge-K through 8th grade school with a 35 year history of progressive education. Located in Oakland, California.
- The Cambridge School of WestonThe Cambridge School of WestonThe Cambridge School of Weston, also known as CSW, is a private, coeducational high school in Weston, Massachusetts. Currently the school has approximately 330 students, 25% of whom are boarding. The Head of School is Jane Moulding...
- A progressive day/boarding school, grades 9-12, founded in 1886 and located in Weston, Massachusetts. - City Neighbors Charter School - A Progressive model of 3 grassroots public schools serving approximately 560 students in Grades k-12 in Baltimore City.
- Stevens Cooperative SchoolStevens Cooperative SchoolThe Stevens Cooperative School , founded in 1949, is the only nonsectarian private elementary school in Hoboken, New Jersey, USA. The school started as an informal playgroup for children of the faculty at Stevens Institute of Technology...
- A progressive elementary school and parent cooperative with two campuses in Hoboken and Jersey City, New Jersey, founded in 1949. - The Crefeld SchoolThe Crefeld SchoolThe Crefeld School is a small, private school in the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, founded in 1970 as The Miquon Upper School. Its mission is to pioneer a progressive, alternative learning community for classroom secondary and middle school students...
- A Progressive secondary school serving approximately 100 students in Grades 7-12 in the greater Philadelphia area. - The Park School of BuffaloThe Park School of BuffaloThe Park School of Buffalo is a private, co-educational, college preparatory school located in Amherst, New York . Founded in 1912, the institution features lower, middle, and upper schools, serving roughly 260 students from Pre-Kindergarten through grade 12...
- A Progressive school for grades K-12 in Snyder, New York, founded in 1912. - Christa McAuliffe SchoolChrista McAuliffe SchoolChrista McAuliffe School is a public elementary school and middle school located in Saratoga, California, in the Cupertino Union School District...
- A progressive K-8 school in the Cupertino Union School District in California - The Peninsula SchoolThe Peninsula SchoolThe Peninsula School is an independent, co-educational, Anglican, day and boarding school, located in Mount Eliza, Victoria, Australia.Founded in 1961, the school is set on the large hilly green fields overlooking Port Phillip Bay in the Mornington Peninsula and is a member of the Associated...
- A Progressive elementary school in Menlo Park, California - Friends School of MinnesotaFriends School of MinnesotaThe Friends School of Minnesota is a Kindergarten through Eighth Grade independent school located in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Founded in 1988 by area Quakers and peace activists, the goal of the school is to meet "children’s intellectual, emotional and spiritual needs in an environment that...
- A Progressive K-8 Quaker school in St. Paul, Minnesota. - Ethical Culture Fieldston SchoolEthical Culture Fieldston SchoolThe Ethical Culture Fieldston School, known as "Fieldston", is a private "independent" school in New York City and a member of the Ivy Preparatory School League. It has about 1600 students and a staff of 400 people , led by Dr. Damian J...
- An independent Progressive K-12 school in Riverdale, New York. - Little Red School HouseLittle Red School HouseThe Little Red School House and Elisabeth Irwin High School, also referred to as LREI, was founded by Elisabeth Irwin in 1921 in Manhattan, New York City as the Little Red School House, and is regarded as the city's first progressive school...
& Elisabeth Irwin High School - An independent Progressive preK-12 school in Manhattan, New York. - Children's Community SchoolChildren's Community SchoolChildren's Community School is an independent progressive elementary school located in Van Nuys , serving students from kindergarten through sixth grade.-External links:***...
- A progressive elementary school in Van Nuys, California - Oakwood School (California) - A progressive junior high to high school in North Hollywood, California
- Project Learn School- A progressive cooperative school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, serving about 80 students in grades K-8.
- Sequoyah SchoolSequoyah SchoolThe Sequoyah School is a non-profit, independent alternative school in Pasadena, California. The school, which was founded in 1958, is located at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains, situated on of property leased from the California Department of Transportation.The student body has fewer than...
- A child-centered/progressive school for 5- to 14-year-olds in Pasadena, California - The Little SchoolThe Little SchoolThe Little School is a novel written by Alicia Partnoy, a woman who was "disappeared" during the Dirty War period of the history of Argentina. It is an account of a clandestine detention center. She tells of all the people that she met and saw through a tiny hole in her blindfold. The guards made...
- A Progressive school for ages 3–12 in Bellevue, Washington, founded in 1959 - The Park School of Baltimore - A Progressive school for grades K-12 in Pikesville, Maryland, founded in 1912.
- Buxton SchoolBuxton SchoolBuxton School is a private, coeducational, college preparatory, and boarding and day school for grades 9–12 located in Williamstown, Massachusetts. The school was founded by Ellen Geer Sangster in 1928 as a coeducational country day school in Short Hills, New Jersey. In 1947 the high school was...
A Progressive coed boarding/day school for grade 9-12 in Williamstown, Massachusetts, founded in 1928. - The Putney SchoolThe Putney SchoolThe Putney School is an independent high school in Putney, Vermont. It was founded in 1935 by Carmelita Hinton. It is a co-educational, college-preparatory boarding school, with a day-student component, located outside of Brattleboro, Vermont. Emily Jones is the director...
- A Progressive coed boarding/day school for grades 9-12 in Putney, Vermont, founded in 1935 - St. Francis SchoolSt. Francis School (Goshen, Kentucky)St. Francis School is a progressive independent dayschool serving 340 children, preschool through grade 8, from the greater Louisville area. Founded in 1965 as an Episcopal day school, today St. Francis is officially non-sectarian and ecumenical...
- A progressive K-8 school in Goshen, Kentucky - Summers-Knoll SchoolSummers-Knoll SchoolSummers-Knoll School is a small, independent elementary school located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The school primarily focuses on child-centered education for students who are bright, creative and/or gifted...
- A progressive K-8 independent school in Ann Arbor, Michigan. - The Dragon AcademyThe Dragon AcademyThe Dragon Academy , is a small co-ed, secular independent school in the historic Annex neighbourhood of downtown Toronto. The purpose of the school, as has been stated by the principal, Dr...
- A progressive museum based middle and high school in Toronto, Canada - Oak Lane Day SchoolOak Lane Day SchoolOak Lane Day School, located in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, was an independent school serving preschool and elementary-aged children, and operates an eight-week children's camp program in the summer. The school's stated mission is to honor each child's individuality in a setting that fosters...
- A progressive preschool through sixth grade near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, founded in 1916 - The Miquon SchoolThe Miquon SchoolThe Miquon School is an independent, parent-owned, elementary school located in Conshohocken , Pennsylvania. It was founded by parents in 1932, following the progressive philosophy of John Dewey...
- A progressive PK-6 school founded in 1932 near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Chatsworth Hills AcademyChatsworth Hills AcademyChatsworth Hills Academy is a private, coeducational day school located in Chatsworth, California, USA. CHA students are enrolled in Grades K through Eight and Preschool....
- Preschool through 8th grade located in Chatsworth, California (San Fernando Valley) - Wildwood SchoolWildwood SchoolWildwood School is an independent K-12 school located in Los Angeles. Wildwood was founded as an elementary school in 1971, by a group of parents led by a young lawyer named Belle Mason. The secondary campus opened in 2000. Wildwood School is dedicated to focusing on teaching independent learning...
Wildwood School is a K-12, co-educational, college preparatory day school located in Los Angeles, California. As a nationally acclaimed independent school founded on a progressive, research-based approach, Wildwood emphasizes academic excellence and instills a genuine passion for learning. The program focuses on project-based learning, a proven methodology that blends math, science, the arts, and humanities to provide students with a deep educational experience. - Voyagers' Community School - A progressive, independent, private school for Early Kindergarten through 12th grade located in Farmingdale, New Jersey, founded in 2004
- The School in Rose Valley SRV is a pre-school through 6th grade, co-educational day school near Philadelphia. It was founded in 1929 based on John Dewey's principles.
- Green Acres SchoolGreen Acres SchoolGreen Acres School is a progressive pre-kindergarten through 8th grade school in North Bethesda, Maryland, serving 320 students. Founded in 1934, the methods of teaching are based on the research of John Dewey of the University of Chicago and the Swiss developmental psychologist Jean...
- A progressive pre-k to 8 independent school in Rockville, Maryland. - Corlears School - A progressive pre-k to 5th grade private school in Manhattan, NY.
Colleges
- Bank Street College of EducationBank Street College of EducationBank Street College of Education is located in Manhattan, New York City.-History:Bank Street was founded in 1916 by Lucy Sprague Mitchell as the "Bureau of Educational Experiments"....
- Founded in 1916, Bank Street is known for its progressive educational approach. Combining current scholarship on child-centered education, psychological development, and practical experience, the College offers three program areas: The Graduate School of Education, Children's Programs, and the Division of Continuing Education. The Bank Street Bookstore specializes in children's books and educational materials for children and educators, and is considered one of the best children's bookstores in New York City. - Goddard CollegeGoddard CollegeGoddard College is a private, liberal arts college located in Plainfield, Vermont, offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Goddard College currently operates on an intensive low-residency model...
- A progressive college founded on the ideals and work of John Dewey. Goddard offers BA, MA and MFA low residency programs in Writing, Education, Psychology, Health Arts, Interdisciplinary Arts and Individually designed programs for working adults. Eight day residencies in Plainfield, Vermont and Port Townsend, Washington - Soka University of AmericaSoka University of AmericaSoka University of America is a university located in Aliso Viejo, California, United States. It describes its mission as the fostering of a steady stream of global citizens committed to living a contributive life—with an emphasis on principles of pacifism, human rights, and the creative...
- A four year college founded in 2001 in Aliso Viejo, California. - The Evergreen State College - A state sponsored college in Olympia, Washington that emphasizes book seminars, an open interdisciplinary curricula with students taking a single course at a time that may last several quarters and written evaluations rather than numerical grades.
- Antioch UniversityAntioch UniversityAntioch University is an American university with five campuses located in four states. Campuses are located in Los Angeles, California; Santa Barbara, California; Keene, New Hampshire; Yellow Springs, Ohio; and Seattle, Washington. Additionally, Antioch University houses two institution-wide...
- A six-campus American university with campuses in Los Angeles, Seattle, Santa Barbara, Ohio, and New England. It is founded on principles of rigorous liberal arts education, innovative experiential learning and socially engaged citizenship. Antioch College is the result of American educator Horace Mann's dream to establish a college comparable to Harvard but with some notable differences. This college was to be completely non-sectarian and co-educational, and with a curriculum that would not only include the traditional treatment of the classics, but would emphasize science and the scientific method, history and modern literature of - Sarah Lawrence CollegeSarah Lawrence CollegeSarah Lawrence College is a private liberal arts college in the United States, and a leader in progressive education since its founding in 1926. Located just 30 minutes north of Midtown Manhattan in southern Westchester County, New York, in the city of Yonkers, this coeducational college offers...
- a private, independent, co-educational liberal arts college founded on the principles of John Dewey. Its unique pedagogy, emphasizing students' individual development through tutorials ("conferencing") and personal mentoring of students by faculty ("donning"), together with an emphasis on writing, an open curriculum and education of the "whole person"produces engaged students in fields that range from the arts to medicine; from public service to law. - Union Institute & UniversityUnion Institute & UniversityUnion Institute & University is a non-profit private college, specializing in limited residence and distance learning programs. With the main campus in Cincinnati, Union Institute & University operates -from Ohio- "satellite campuses" located in Montpelier, Vermont; Brattleboro, Vermont; North...
BA program in Montpelier and Brattleboro, Vermont, offering Bachelor of Arts in low-residency and online programs, a leader in progressive student-centered higher education for working adults. Offering Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies with concentrations in Women's and Gender Studies, Literature and Writing, Psychology, Education, Historical, Social and Cultural Studies, the Arts, Religious, Spiritual and Holitistic Studies, Environmental Studies, and a Teacher Licensure Program. The low-residency M.Ed. in Montpelier, Vermont is designed for working adults and uses a progressive, student-centered model.
See also
- Constructionist learningConstructionist learningConstructionist learning is inspired by the constructivist theory that individual learners construct mental models to understand the world around them. However, constructionism holds that learning can happen most effectively when people are also active in making tangible objects in the real world...
(Seymour Papert) - Constitutional economicsConstitutional economicsConstitutional economics is a research program in economics and constitutionalism that has been described as extending beyond the definition of 'the economic analysis of constitutional law' in explaining the choice "of alternative sets of legal-institutional-constitutional rules that constrain the...
- Political economyPolitical economyPolitical economy originally was the term for studying production, buying, and selling, and their relations with law, custom, and government, as well as with the distribution of national income and wealth, including through the budget process. Political economy originated in moral philosophy...
- Rule according to higher lawRule according to higher lawThe rule according to a higher law means that no written law may be enforced by the government unless it conforms with certain unwritten, universal principles of fairness, morality, and justice...
- Student voiceStudent voiceStudent voice describes the distinct perspectives and actions of young people throughout schools focused on education."Student voice is giving students the ability to influence learning to include policies, programs, contexts and principles."...
- Experiential educationExperiential educationExperiential education is a philosophy of education that describes the process that occurs between a teacher and student that infuses direct experience with the learning environment and content. The term is mistakenly used interchangeably with experiential learning...
- Educational philosophies
- Education reformEducation reformEducation reform is the process of improving public education. Small improvements in education theoretically have large social returns, in health, wealth and well-being. Historically, reforms have taken different forms because the motivations of reformers have differed.A continuing motivation has...
- Humanistic education
- Laboratory schoolLaboratory schoolA laboratory school or demonstration school is an elementary or secondary school operated in association with a university, college, or other teacher education institution and used for the training of future teachers, educational experimentation, educational research, and professional...
- Learning by teachingLearning by teachingIn professional education, learning by teaching designates currently the method by Jean-Pol Martin that allows pupils and students to prepare and to teach lessons, or parts of lessons...
(LdL) - Teaching for social justiceTeaching for social justiceTeaching for social justice is an educational philosophy designed to promote socioeconomic equality in the learning environment and instill these values in students. Educators may employ social justice instruction to promote unity on campus, as well as mitigate boundaries to the general curriculum...
- Minnesota State University, Mankato Masters Degree in Experiential Education
- Democratic educationDemocratic educationDemocratic education is a theory of learning and school governance in which students and staff participate freely and equally in a school democracy...
- Oswego MovementOswego MovementThe Oswego Movement was a major movement in American education, based on the methods of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi and introduced by Edward Austin Sheldon at Oswego Primary Teachers' Training School...
- Positive educationPositive educationPositive education is an approach to education that draws on positive psychology's emphasis of individual strengths and personal motivation to promote learning...
Further reading
- Bernstein, Richard J.Richard J. BernsteinRichard J. Bernstein is an American philosopher, the Vera List Professor of Philosophy and former dean of the graduate faculty at The New School....
“John Dewey,” Encyclopedia of Philosophy, New York: Macmillan, 1967, 380-385 - Kevin J. Brehony, What's Left of Progressive Primary Education. Rethinking Radical Education. A. Rattansi and D. Reeder. London, Lawrence and Wishart: 1992: 196-221.
- Kevin J. Brehony. "An ‘undeniable’ and ‘disastrous’ Influence? John Dewey and English Education (1895–1939)." Oxford Review of Education 23(4) 1997: 427-445.
- Kevin J. Brehony "From the particular to the general, the continuous to the discontinuous: progressive education revisited." History of Education 30(5) 2001: 413-432.
- Beck, Robert. "Progressive Education and American Progressivism: Margaret Naumburg." Teachers College Record, 60(4) (1959), 198-208.
- Bruner, Jerome. The Process of Education. New York: Random House, 1960
- Bruner, Jerome. The Relevance of Education. New York: Norton, 1971.
- Cappel, Constance, Utopian Colleges, New York: Peter Lang, 1999.
- Cremin, Lawrence. The Transformation of the School: Progressivism in American Education, 1876-1957. New York: Knopf, 1962
- Dewey, John. Experience and Education. New York: Kappa Delta Pi 1938
- Dewey, John. Dewey on Education, edited by Martin Dworkin. New York: Teachers college Press, 1959
- Dewey, John. Democracy and Education. New York: Free Press, 1944.
- Dewey, John. Experience and Nature. New York: Dover, 1958.
- Harms, William and De Pencier, Ida. Experiencing Education: 100 Years of Learning at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools. University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, 1996
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